Learned Optimism

THE THIRD EDGE that optimism gives an organization is the main topic of this chapter: learning optimism at work.

The first, selection, was the subject of chapter six, “Success at Work.” Your company can select optimistic individuals to fill its ranks, as Metropolitan Life did.

The second way a company can use optimism is placement. Strong optimism is an obvious virtue for “high-defeat” and “high-stress” jobs that require initiative, persistence, and bold dreaming. Just as obviously, extreme pessimism is an asset to no one. But some jobs call for a large dollop of pessimism. As we saw in chapter six, there is considerable

There are three ways an organization can use the optimism edge.

In this chapter you will learn two of these techniques, which you can use at work: listening in on your own internal dialogue and disputing your negative dialogue.

Optimistic people become successes. In school, on the playing field, and at work, the optimistic individual makes the most of his talent. And we now know why. The optimistic individual perseveres. In the face of routine setbacks, and even of major failures, he persists. When he comes to the wall at work, he keeps going, particularly at the crucial

Remember that much of pessimistic thinking consists in just the reverse, latching onto the most dire possible belief, not because the evidence supports it, but precisely because it is so dire. Your job is to undo this destructive habit by becoming skilled at generating alternatives.

Once you get into the habit of disputing negative beliefs, your daily life will run much better, and you will feel much happier.

Learned optimism works not through an unjustifiable positivity about the world but through the power of “non-negative” thinking.